Posts: 122
| For the first time in the history of tournament fishing, one team is only one tournament victory away from winning more than $250,000.00 in a single season in muskie tournament fishing. August 25th and 26th, the team of Neil Barnett and Bill Hill won the WMT's Badgerland Open Chapionship, giving the team their second WMT qualifying victory of the 2007 season and their second leg of the "MUSKIE GRAND SLAM" (tm). Barnett and Hill already lead in the standings for the Lapp Trophy (team of the year), which is one more leg of the Grand Slam and if they should hold on to their lead with a 1st place finish at the WMT's Invitational Championship, then they will take home an additional $130,000.00 cash bonus plus a ten year paid exemption on the WMT, including the next ten Invitational Championships.
Including Barnett and Hill's Grand Slam bonus, the team's earnings for the three victories, plus the Lapp Trophy bonus and other money and prizes that they have earned during the season, would push the duo's 2007 earnings over $250,000.00 which is saying a lot, because no other muskie tournament circuit or tournament has ever paid out more than $250,000.00 during the entire season, yet alone to one team for three tournament victories.
If Barnett and Hill should continue with their winning ways, not only will they be cashing a very big pay-check, but also their ten year paid exemption on the WMT could make their 2007's $250,000.00 plus earnings look relatively small. Put in to terms of how much the WMT is offering in pay-outs in 2007, if Neil Barnett and Bill Hill should win the Grand Slam and a ten year paid exemption, their potential earnings for those ten years is nearly $6,000,000.00 (not including another Grand Slam win), but this number is sure to rise as the WMT becomes even more popular.
All eyes will be on the WMT's Invitational Championship, to be held on the Sand/Dam Lake Chain in Eagle River, to see if Barnett and Hill can be the first team to really "cash in big" on a muskie tournament circuit. However, there will be 65 other teams who will be competing at the Invitational Championship who will have other ideas as to who will take home the winning trophy of what has become the most prestigious tournament in muskie fishing.
And, even though Barnett and Hill are sitting on top of the leader board and have the fastest track to the Grand Slam, there are 12 other teams who have won a WMT one-day qualifying event and who are within striking distance for the Lapp Trophy, who could over take the leaders and grab the big bonus money for themselves if they should win, the next and the last qualifying Major, the Autumn Classic Championship on the Minocqua Chain, September 8 & 9. In addition, there are two other Major Open Championship teams, and could be a third if a new team should win the Autumn Classic, that could win the "Muskie Triple Crown"(tm) that would earn the team over $50,000.00 in cash and prizes that includes a three year paid WMT exemption, including three years at the Invitational Championship.
A lot will be at stake at the next two WMT events, not only for Barnett and Hill, but for the teams who are close and have already qualified, but also for some teams who might be fishing there first tournament on Minocqua and for those teams sitting on the bubble who are very close to qualifying for the season ending Invitational.
However things turn-out, it should be very interesting to see how it all finishes up.
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Posts: 122
| The WMT's Autumn Classic Open Championship is the final qualifying tournament for the 2007 season on the Minocqua Chain, September 8 & 9. The Autumn Classic is the fourth Major Open Championship of the WMT's 2007 season. Even though the Minocqua tournament is a Major Open Championship, the tournament is open to the public.
The WMT has hosted one-day muskie tournaments on the Minocqua Chain in previous years, but this will be the first time a two day tournament was scheduled. The previous WMT tournaments have produced some very high numbers of legals muskies (for a one-day event) and some very big muskies, including a 38 pound, 49 1/2" tiger muskie in July of 2005. And, although the Minocqua tournaments have produced some very impresive results, the general consensus of most tournament anglers is that hosting a WMT on the second weekend of September on the chain, will not only produce a lot of muskies but also the nearly $15,000.00 fifty inch pool money will be won during the event. For the team who catches the 50" muskie during the event, they also have a chance of winning the Frabill Big Kahuna "Hunter Trophy" (tm) bonus of $4,500.00.
The Autumn Classic Open Championship is limited to 150, two angler teams. The entry fee is only $300 per team but will pay out $20,000.00 to the first place team if there is a full feild. Also, the Minocqua tournament, being the last event of the year, has the ability to send ten teams to qualify for the Invitational Championship which would be the most from any qualifying tournament this year.
If you are interested in fishing the Autumn Classic Open Championship on the Minocqua Chain, there is still some open spot left. Log on to the WMT's web site at www.WMTseries.com or call (715)369-1394 or email [email protected] for more information and an entry form. Or, you can register at the headquarters for the Minocqua tournament at Rollies and Helen's Musky Shop on HWY 51 on Friday, September 7th between 5:00pm and 7:30pm. The rules and meeting on Friday will start just after the registration at 7:30pm at the Island City Lanes and Lounge, just north of the Musky Shop on HWY 51.
Thanks and we hope to see you in Minocqua,
Tom McInnis
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